First off, there's no difference between you and me, just remember that as you read on.

I've always been fit and healthy but never really had a fitness goal. Just being fit and healthy has been fine by me. I've experimented with many different training methods but with no specific goal.

Ok, so my goal is to get my bodyfat percentage as low as possible (ripped, shredded etc) for a charity fitness calendar shoot in Ocrober 2015. I have hired an online coach and am currently 2wks and 4kgs down. Realistically, I'm looking at losing just over a stone.

This regime requires a strict amount of calories every day, much lower than I'm used to which is really hard to stick to. I've always been used to eating as much healthy food as I wanted so it's a huge shock for me to be measuring food and fitting everything within my limits

There's also a strict, progressive training plan that is hard whilst on a lower amount of calories. Lower calorie obviously mean less energy but I've got to lift more.

The vital thing about this in my opinion is mental strength. I KNOW I will achieve this goal. I KNOW I'll succeed, I WON'T give in and I'll give it EVERYTHING I've got.

Of course I'd love to eat 700 doughnuts with some chocolate cake and ice cream BUT it wouldn't get me to my goal so I won't. It's that simple really. So many of you will be reading this and thinking 'oh I couldn't do that' - but why not?

Look at the first sentence again, there's no difference between you and me. I am mentally strong but it's not just something I was born with. Like anything, I've worked on it. I am willing to succeed and I am determined to reach my goal. I just want it more than others do.

A lot of this is down to confidence, you may feel bad so you don't bother cos you feel worthless. What's the point eh? What if I said you would feel so much stronger mentally and physically? What if you developed an attitude where you think ANYTHING is possible?

You've got to find the main reason(s) that's holding you back. Cut that crap out of your life and then go for it.

Invest in yourself and reap the rewards. It's an unbelievable feeling I get showing people what they are made of, unlocking that potential and watching people flourish.

Don't hold back, make that change now. Get mentally and physically strong. Get out of your comfort zone and unleash yourself on the world.

So I believe this is the most important & effective blog I've ever written regarding fitness, confidence & belief.

The saying 'the rich get richer & the poor get poorer' is often said but there's a reason it's true and it's based on the cycle below, and this goes for fitness and every day life too:

POTENTIAL > ACTION > RESULTS > BELIEF

POTENTIAL: you think you have some potential so you decide to take action.

ACTION: you take action and you begin to see great results.

RESULTS: you see a huge change & it gives you massive belief.

BELIEF: your self belief shoots through the roof & your potential is justified so you repeat the cycle.

So this is a positive example. BUT, this can also be done in a negative way & is done by so many people and is why so many people lack self confidence. Here's how:

POTENTIAL: you don't think you have much potential so you take very little action.

ACTION: the very little action you put in means poor & very little results.

RESULTS: lack of results means your self belief is at an all time low.

BELIEF: is do low you think you have no potential so give up.

Do you see how your own BELIEF can have such a massive impact on your life? If you are using this in a positive manner then you will just continue to thrive & achieve. But if your using it in a negative way you can spiral out of control.

Before we start, I've watched frozen 3 times today and I'm typing this on my phone so please don't kick off if an apostrophe is out of place.

Right then, PERSONAL TRAINERS, are we good or bad? Value for money? Worth the investment? Well the answer is good and bad, yes and no.

Nevermind us PT's going on about certain clients being a pain or unmotivated etc, some PT's I've seen are basically fraudsters. I've been on many courses, functions erg where fellow PT's turn up and they just have the personality of a wet potato. It's fine if you're knowledgable and in good shape (not all PT's are in shape, that's a different story), but without a personality you are nothing in the fitness world. Bottom line is we are basically salesmen and women. Have you ever been approached by a miserable arse sales person and bought anything from them?

Far to many PT's these days are interested in themselves and not their clients which is complete bullshit, clients should be 100% number 1 priority. How many PT's do u see on facebook or twitter with their tops off pretending they can't see the camera that's a yard in front of them?

From a personal point of view I've invested £1000's in my education and furthering myself to give my clients a better service. My focus is always 100% on my clients. I massively can't stand these self obsessed idiots calling themselves PT's because they wear a vest and go on the sunbed for 10mins.

These days you can get a or certificate online for a tenner, it doesn't make you a PT. As a client you should always ask questions about your PT's experience and qualifications.

That wasn't so bad was it? If you have any questions please just message me @targetzonept or david@target-zone.co.uk

You may think that title is an exaggeration but let me explain. My previous blog about these fad diets was more of a rant but for this one, I will explain the reasoning why these diets are dangerous. Detoxification is a 3 phase process that takes place primarily in the liver and then the kidneys. To simplify things, lets use the garbage/refuse analogy. Phase 1 is like collecting all the rubbish in your house for that weekly collection. Phase 2 is when the bin becomes full and you place it in the main bin outside your house and place it out for the collection people to come and take it away. Phase 3 is when the bins are collected and all the rubbish is removed.

Now, phase 1 is easy to do and this is where these fad detox diets are cashing in. The problem is that this does not help support phase 2. Simply put, if you have a party in your house for a group of friends, you create a lot of mess in a short amount of time, therefore your bin becomes full and overflows.

Phase 2 is massively nutrient dependant, we get nutrients from our diet. If our bin is full or overflowing or we forget to take the rubbish out then we begin to pump harmful toxins and stink our house out.

I have seen a lot of people complain of varying conditions from headaches to lack of energy to bad skin when on these diets. They have been told this is all part of the system clear out and they seem to call it the 'healing crisis'. I don't know about you but I have never called anything good, a crisis.

Because the body is so reliant on good nutrition and amino acids, when it is depleted because of these diets, it starts to look elsewhere to get them. An excellent place to find them is your muscles, and this is bad news for you. If you are trying to build muscle or burn fat, having a body that is highly toxic is very counter productive.

Phase 3 is an easier approach. It is all about your kidneys. If you keep supplying them with healthy greens and lots of veg then they will work automatically.

And that is it. If you insist on doing a detox, don't be fooled by these companies selling you 3 shakes for £40. Remember, you need to keep your body in a state of balance. For detoxification to be successful, you need to feed it essential nutrients, not starve it.

Now, I have my own personal opinions on fat burners but I am going to be as neutral as possible and speak from a common sense perspective. I don't want to call these supplements as I don't believe they are, but like most things these days, they make a lot of money. If a product comes with various warnings, I tend to think they are bad for me, and these come with plenty:>They raise cortisol which is a stress hormone.>You may suffer palpitations.>You may suffer anxiety>You may suffer insomnia>You may suffer vomiting & dizziness

This is my main concern though. High levels of caffeine and ephedrine that are found in these pills can cause stress to the heart and raise blood pressure. Now, lets get a little bit personal. Let's take our celebrity party animal turned bodybuilder Jodie Marsh. Credit where credit is due, she has transformed her body with the guidance of professionals and personal dedication and she looks great physically. She is also a millionaire and has the time to workout for hours a day and get all her nutrition bought and prepared for her. After her transformation she then decides to sell fat burning pills to her adoring public. Now the credit stops, my personal opinion is that she is cashing in on vulnerable and uneducated fans of hers who think they can get her body by taking these pills. I have seen her on Twitter promoting these and the people buying them really are uneducated young & old women being suckered in. I actually questioned Jodie and she BLOCKED me. That was nice of her, I was only asking a genuine question about her fat burners. Now, back to us normal folk. Let's take any average gym goer or even worse, a parent with a hectic lifestyle who is after a quick fix to lose that excess fat. They wont be conditioned and their body wont be in the best state to start with. So they take these pills which will raise their metabolic rate and possibly their blood pressure which in turn puts more pressure on the heart. Does this sound safe?I personally cant find any pro outcomes for these products apart from they make the people who sell them lots of money. Does this sound familiar? They do suppress your appetite which some say leads to you taking in less calories which means WEIGHT loss, not necessarily FAT loss. There is a BIG difference. My question would be, how does it suppress your appetite? What does it do to trick your body to thinking its full? Is this healthy? I would say NO. What is wrong with taking Green Tea with a bit of coconut oil? A perfectly natural and healthy fat burner. A handful of Almond nuts per day has been shown to help reduce bodyfat percentages.Or, we could just go back to eating healthy and exercising a bit more. It all comes back to this. If you do what you've always done, you'll have what you've always had. Train a bit harder and more intense over a period of time and see the changes. Thanks for reading, please share and leave your comments.

When somebody says something negative about you, you believe them.When somebody praises you, you dismiss it. Does this sound familiar?Right, well let's sort that out and get your confidence levels soaring. Every single day I see people with such low self esteem and its sad to see. It doesn't matter if you are high flying in your career or if you have lots of money or a stable family, everybody suffers from a lack of confidence. There are many reasons for this, probably too many to go into but the one common theme is that they all make you feel crap and worthless. I think a major factor is the society we live in. Models have to be skinny, magazine shoots are airbrushed, celebrities flaunt their toned bodies - there is pressure everywhere and some people just cant cope with it. Its all very well me just writing words but if there's no example its quite meaningless. The greatest example I can give is myself. I started training when I was about 15 and have been through every emotion on the journey. I can only put my strong mentality and confidence down to doing this pretty much day in day out. Early on I had excuses, of course I did, but over time I have just grown stronger and stronger, training when I didn't want to, getting up early before work, training late - I've done them all and they all add up over time to you becoming mentally tough. This transfers to your every day life too, nothing becomes impossible, you suddenly realise that you can achieve things, those negative peoples opinion of you don't seem to matter any more. A client of mine I trained for over a year is my personal favourite. A very timid and shy man who was scared of the gym and people in there. The usual idiots who throw weights, talk loud, grunt and stare at people intimidated him. He had the guts to contact me and we started from the bottom, lifting and struggling with 4kg dumbbells. Fast forward a year and he was on the 30kg dumbbells, he got a sleeve tattoo, he learned to swim, he learned to ride a bike, he entered a triathlon, he got a new job and moved to London. I personally could have thought negatively at losing out on 4 sessions per week, but no, I was actually proud and unbelievably happy that I had helped somebody change his life around. Becoming fit and healthy is a complete lifestyle change but its one that you will love, you just have to give it time and NOT GIVE UP. Negative people will always be around to test you. I was told when I first started Personal Training by a self proclaimed 'leading trainer in Liverpool' that I would struggle on my own and wouldn't succeed. Now, I don't know what his definition of success is but I change peoples lives, I make them feel better, they recommend me to friends and the process goes on. I still check in on him from time to time to check his tweets etc and its all about him with his top off and pics of him him him. That's his approach and that's fine but my main concentration are my clients and nothing else. Don't let these people get in your head and NEVER let anyone tell you you cant do something. If you have a goal then go after it, lifes to short to think about 'what ifs'. Its sad to see so many people with confidence and belief issues, and they are issues because they affect peoples day to day thinking and actions. Some issues lie very deep and need more professional help but for a lot of people its more dealing with todays world and what is perceived of them. For example, girls cover themselves in tonnes of make up to make themselves look better so others will be interested in them, not realising when they take the make up off they look completely different. Just accept and embrace who you are, fuck everyone else (sorry for swearing mum). Set yourself a realistic goal, get in the gym, get outdoors, get in the pool, get on your bike, just get active and do something you're not used to. Keep doing it, get better at it then set a new goal. Have you ever known anything good come from thinking negatively all the time?Change your whole life around NOW.Stop being a door mat for people, rise above the crap. Start BELIEVING in yourself.Get STRONG.Get FIT.Get HAPPY. Catch me on twitter @TargetZonePT for regular fitness updates.

This blog is hopefully going to educate you and open your eyes when it comes to the con that is Juice Plus & Herbalife. I encourage the company reps, people using it and people thinking of using it to read on to learn the facts. It wont be pretty, I won't be nice, i'm just going to tell you the truth. I am basically sick of these con artists ripping unsuspecting people off and giving them false hope as well as damaging their bodies. This isn't a rant, it's showing you how you are being conned by unqualified glorified sales reps.

Ok so to start with, why would you buy one of these? Well, the clever advertising promises you the world, nice buzz words like juice and herbal with friendly, fresh graphics. People are easily persuaded. Weight loss, glowing skin, improved DNA, increased energy, improved immune system etc etc the false list goes on. Add to this that at least one person you know has tried it and lost a shed load of 'weight'. Its a no brainer isn't it? Unfortunately, its absolute bullshit. Lets put this as simple as possible - look at the ingredient list in te above pic, does that look healthy? Do you even know what the ingredients are? Do you think fresh 100% natural fruit and vegetables is healthier OR processed chemicals with added sweeteners that is turned into a powder? I really hope you didn't pick the latter. This is as simple as it gets, why would you choose chemically enhanced powder over fresh vegetables? I don't actually have the answer to that. But somehow these con artists can convince you that it is healthier. I can only suspect that it is the 'I want it yesterday' mentality that we have these days. Now, looking a the Herbalife approach, they tell you to have 2 shakes and 1 balanced meal per day. Not only is this not enough to allow your body to function properly, it is also dangerous. Of course you will lose weight, but this is because you are consuming a dangerously low amount of calories. Give it a few weeks and your body will begin to shut down, you will look frail, your breath will smell, clothes will hang off you and you will have no energy - Sounds good doesn't it? You will severely damage your metabolism (the system that helps your body burn fat). This is not sustainable at any level and no matter how healthy you eat after stopping your fad diet, your metabolism will have been damaged to such an extent that no matter how healthy you eat afterwards, your body just wont burn it fast enough - therefore you gain weight, and the cycle begins again, and you do further damage. As for juice plus they advise you to use Juice Plus as part of a healthy diet. Basically, any product that tells you to eat it as part of a healthy diet is bad for you. Your healthy diet covers the fact that this is the shit part of your diet. So you work hard in the gym and eat well and earn your body, but then juice plus come along and take the credit, utter bollox. Anybody can sell these products, this should be enough to scare you off. I am a fully qualified advanced personal trainer and nutritional advisor who has spent years and thousands of pounds learning and educating myself about how the body works. Its safe to say I am pretty clued up on fitness and nutrition. I wouldn't touch this product in any circumstance. Yet, somebody who works in a chippy or a car showroom will sell you this as a 'health' or 'wellbeing coach' and tell you how the body works without spending one day on a nutritional course or spending any of their money on research. I have had people contact me to start training with me and they explain how they need help with their diet as they don't know what to eat. A couple of weeks later they are all over facebook and twitter as Juice Plus Reps and Herbalife coaches selling products to unsuspecting people who trust them.Maybe you are convinced its a good product because megastars like Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham or Lionel Messi endorse it. Let's get back to the real world, do you think posh spice pours out a herbalife shake for Goldenballs after he's had a hard day? No. They endorse it, basically they are paid MILLIONS for them to use their superstar names. Don't be gullible and fall for this shite.I hope i'm getting across how passionate I am about peoples health and fitness and doing it safely. Nothing, absolutely nothing beats exercising and eating a healthy, fresh, nutritious diet. I could have made thousands selling these products but I've invested in my career and have a good reputation as someone who cares about his clients. These con artists are usually lively, bubbly and full of life people who gain your trust quickly. It may be a personal trainer who is poor at their job and need extra money, it may be a friend who you would trust or even a model who you would think how to look after themselves. NO - the bottom line is they want your money and don't give a shit about your health. Please don't take this as me criticising you on your fitness journey, if you have or are using these products then please have a rethink. You should be extremely proud that you have chosen to make a difference to your lifestyle, unfortunately you have just been preyed upon by these vultures. Oh, and by the way, they will have all the lingo to come back with a response that will make you question science and how the body works but that's what liars do. If you need help at all or have any questions then I will gladly answer them and give as much advice as I can for FREE. As I said, I am in this industry to help people. I hope this has helped you.

Advertising generates BILLIONS of pounds for many companies whether they be massive like Nike or small like a local trader. The one thing they all have in common is they want your MONEY. Now, let's concentrate on the health & fitness industry.

All the fitness magazines with chiselled models & photoshopped bodies are owned by the supplement companies, which in turn use countless pages in the mags to advertise their products, again using massive models, yet aiming their product at your average 18yr old gym goer.

Shake brands, sports brands also use celebrities to endorse products. Let's take global megastars David Beckham, Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo for example. They all have endorsed Herbalife & Juice Plus. Do you really think they take this product? NO. Endorsing means they get massive amounts of cash so people think they use it, therefore their sales go astronomical.

Now, let's go to a massive sector, nutrition. The FSA (foods standards agency) are supposed to govern foods and what the brands can advertise. They basically don't. These mega money brands like coke, Kellogg's, etc just throw money at them and they can say what they want. That's why you get cereal brands claiming they have 'added vitamin d', 'fortified nutrients', 'helps strengthen your heart' and so on. It's absolute garbage & lies and the truth is the box they come in is more nutritious.

Sadly, money talks and why would the government or any powers that be stop this money spinner? There's no reason too. Money means more than health, that's just the facts. None more so is this evident than in the governments own health push programme. Telling people to drink diet drinks instead of normal ones.

Until nutritional education is in place in schools or we change our ways then we will all continue to be suckered in.

Please share and leave your comments.

@targetzonept

www.target-zone.co.uk

]]>Tue, 11 Mar 2014 20:07:51 GMThttp://www.target-zone.co.uk/blog/fitness-myths-exposedFat Makes You Fat There are 2 different types of fats, good and bad. Surprisingly, you want to cut out the bad ones and eat more of the good ones. It’s pretty much that simple, you just need to know the difference between good and bad. Good fats are an essential part and should be part of your diet. Good sources come from fish (tuna, mackerel, salmon etc), eggs, peanut butter, olive oil & beef. Bad sources of fats come from processed foods, takeaways, crisps, biscuits, sweets etc.Lifting Weights Will Make A Woman Look Like A ManThis is one of the biggest myths in fitness. Women think they will look like Arnold Schwarzenager if they lift weights. Most fellas lift weights and don't get big and bulky so its near impossible for a women to naturally. To get scientific, women don't produce enough testosterone in their body to build muscle, they just aren't designed to get big and muscly. So what happens? You will burn body fat and get a fit, strong body as long as you have a structured programme and eat properly.

Doing crunches will get rid of belly fat Sadly this is not true, you can’t pick and choose where you want to lose fat. To get rid of belly fat you need a structured programme that incorporates cardiovascular, weight training and resistance training. All this along with a healthy diet and you will see noticeable results.

Deadlifts & Squats are dangerousHave you ever picked up bags of shopping? Well you have done a deadlift. Have you ever stood up from a seating position, well that’s a squat. The only danger is adding weight that is too heavy. Make sure your technique is sound and they are the best exercises you can do.

]]>Thu, 06 Mar 2014 19:58:54 GMThttp://www.target-zone.co.uk/blog/setting-goalsHealth & fitness is big business these days, everybody wants that miracle quick fix and there are plenty of people will con you into thinking they have found it. I can 100% guarantee you they haven’t because it doesn’t exist, so don’t waste your time or money.

My number one tip for starting out is to be realistic, too many people set themselves crazy goals in such a short space of time. It’s not surprising when you see celebrity magazines with headlines of someone losing 7 stone in a week. Use the SMARTapproach:SPECIFIC – Make sure your goals are specific to you & your capabilities. Don’t follow somebody else’s programme.

MEASURABLE – Take measurements so you can keep track of your progress. Ditch the scales as these only tell you how heavy you are, they do not tell you how hard you have exercised, how you are feeling, if this weight is from fat or muscle etc. Take measurements of your waist, hips, thighs, arms etc. I would recommend taking these measurements every 2-week to monitor your progress.ACHIEVABLE – You can achieve things that you don’t think you’re capable of. Your body is a powerful and amazing machine and you will surprise yourself with what you can achieve.

REALISTIC – Don’t set yourself of the goal of losing 5 stone in a week. Do not expect miracles but do expect gradual change. It’s a long journey but you will get there.

TIME – Set yourself a timescale so you are working towards something and have a deadline to achieve it. If you just have an open goal then you won’t push yourself to achieve it, set deadlines and be your own boss.